Last weekend, Philadelphia Youth Basketball (PYB), a non-profit organization dedicated to building a premiere youth development center in North Philadelphia, hosted a groundbreaking event entitled “The Audacity of Hoop: The Transformative power of basketball in the lives of young people.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The event featured Craig Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks Vice President of Player and Organizational Development and former Oregon State and Brown men’s basketball coach and renowned journalist Alexander Wolff, a former Sports Illustrated senior writer and author of the book The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama. Robinson, the brother of Michelle Obama, is also in president Obama’s inner circle of basketball aficionados and is featured prominently in Wolff’s book. The conversation was moderated by former Sports Illustrated executive editor B.J. Schecter.

“We are thrilled that two of the preeminent names in basketball came to Philadelphia to talk about the transformative power of the game,” said Philadelphia Youth Basketball’s Chairman of the Board and retired Ballard Spahr partner John Langel. Adds PYB President and CEO Kenny Holdsman. “I could not think of two better people to carry on a high-level conversation about the potency of the game in the lives of kids and communities.”

The event, tipped-off a huge weekend of basketball in Philadelphia with the first-ever Ivy League men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at the Palestra. The were discussions of The Audacity of Hoop, basketball and the community, coaching and mentorship and tradition, as well as diversity in the game and what it teaches everyone who touches it.

“Basketball is the ultimate meritocracy,” said Holdsman. “The game honors diversity and disrespects the typical dividing lines of race, economic circumstance and even neighborhoods. None of that matters when you step on the court. Nobody knows that better the Craig Robinson and Alex Wolff.”

About Philadelphia Youth BasketballPhiladelphia Youth Basketball is a passionate, diverse, and committed group of organizers and investors who have come together to build a premiere, basketball-based youth development program, organization and center to empower young people, especially those from under-resourced families and communities, to reach their potential as students, athletes, and positive leaders.